1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to cleaning devices, and more specifically to an upright sweep set comprising a novel broom and upright dustpan.
2. Description of Related Art
Brooms are common cleaning devices that have been used for hundreds if not thousands of years. Bundles of natural material such as twigs, grass, and corn husks were used in ancient times to clean floors and hearth areas. A popular material used in the construction of this cleaning device was branches of broom, a yellow flowering shrub. As civilization advanced, broom making became a skilled trade with artisans known as “besom squires” in Anglo-Saxon England. Besom being the name for a cleaning tool made from a bundle of sticks or twigs used to whisk dirt away.
In the United States, a species of Sorghum known as broomcorn became the standard material for brooms in the northeastern United States, and an industry was born. The Shakers, a Christian religious sect that excelled at handicrafts, perfected various broom styles including the flat broom and the whisk broom.
With modern day materials such as plastics, many brooms are now made entirely from plastic, although there still remains a thriving demand for natural fiber brooms. Whether natural fibers or plastic, brooms typically are made with a handle to allow the user to operate the broom without bending over. There are also, however, specialized brooms such as whisk brooms or dusters that do not have handles, and are used to remove dirt and other unwanted materials from small areas or objects such as tables, clothing, a small area of a floor, and the like. There are also times when a broom with a handle is needed for a particular cleaning job as well as a whisk broom. Regardless of the style of broom, once a cleaning job is complete, the debris that have been swept into a pile must now be removed. Commonly, a dustpan is used to collect the debris and move them to a suitable place for disposal. Dustpans typically have a short handle and a tray, and are stored separately from the broom itself. Further, most dustpans require the user to bend over to pick up the debris from the sweeping operation. While at times it is desirable to bend over to collect the swept up debris, there are many occasions where constant bending over can be nothing more than a pain in the back.
What is needed is a handled broom that can also be used as a whisk broom. What is also needed is a dustpan that can be used with or without a handle to alleviate bending over. What is also needed is a broom and upright dustpan combination that can be stored with the upright dustpan in a folded but still stable position with the broom attached therewith.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide an upright sweep set comprising a novel broom and dustpan. It is another object of the present invention to provide an upright sweep set with a detachable broom handle to allow the broom to be used with or without the handle. It is another object of the present invention to provide an upright sweep set that can be stored together. It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an upright sweep set where the dustpan has a handle that retains the broom in an upright position without the bristles becoming deformed. It is another object of the present invention to provide an upright sweep set where the dustpan folds to facilitate storage. It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an upright sweep set where the broom may be retained by the dustpan handle with the dustpan in either an open or closed position.
These and other objects of the present invention are not to be considered comprehensive or exhaustive, but rather, exemplary of objects that may be ascertained after reading this specification and claims with the accompanying drawings.